Thursday, 5 November 2009

Where are the Statesmen?

There are few modern politicians to whom one would accord the dignity of Statesman. Thatcher was, Blair isn't and will never be. The idea of Brown as Statesman produces a risible snort even amongst Labour Party ranks. Cameron has done a fair job of fitting his foot in the glass slipper as a credible domestic PM but trails in the chorus on the international stage. In time, who knows, Cameron may grow into Statesmanship, but that time is not now.

His speech yesterday was about as good as he could make it but the glaring fatuities could not be disguised. The next time we face losing our virginity, he declared, we would not surrender it so lightly. In the real world, of course, once it's gone it's gone. The Constitution Treaty, like 'going all the way' is the end of the process, not an intermediate step. Secondly, he said, he would secure the co-operation of all 26 fellow Federal authorities to allow the UK a whole series of opt-outs. No doubt he will also demonstrate equal proficiency at herding feral cats.

The United Kingdom must now engage in a level of European diplomacy unseen since Versailles or Potsdam, and must do so with pygmies at the helm, with hardly a seasoned Statesman in sight. Pitt the Younger faced issues of similar scale, but Dave is no William Pitt. The only credible choice now facing the United Kingdom is In or Out; is Britain to be a European Satrapy, our laws, unique justice system, foreign and defence policy and economy to be subject to foreign diktat, or are we to remain as we have been for a thousand years a part of Europe, with indissoluble cultural bonds, a common Christian heritage, but with free trade and in open co-operation with our fellow Europeans?

And as for Cameron's plea that he hasn't got time to deal with correcting both Labour's pillage of the British economy and Europe during his first term, I rather think the next Prime Minister's agenda is a matter for the British people to decide, not Dave's vain and self-centred comfort zone; if Dave doesn't think he's up to it, he must stand aside now. For we must demand much of our next government - to deal with not only Europe and the economy but with whatever other crises may arise. We must be ruthless in our expectations; we will exhaust and discard spent politicians in the process, and like Alanbrooke throw another fresh division into the breach. We will demand of our Parliament self-sacrifice, unremitting toil and legendary tenacity; political reputations will perish on the altar, and the cleansing fires of the forge will bring forth a nation renewed.

9 comments:

Andrew
said...

you are delusional. Here's another scenario:

They vote in another bunch of selfish and sheepish hoodlums, or worse, those blind do-gooders make a big enough hash of things between now and the election that we get stuck with the hoodlums we have now, then nothing much changes, except the deficits grow ever larger. Who ever is in power cliams economic success if they grow at a slower rate, or war or financial turmoil breaks out and we are urged to once again ingnore the rules of physics and nature so they can rape and pillage some more, and the EU continues raping and pillageing unabated for several more years. Cameron will be our Obama. Great hope followed by great dillusion, followed by disaster.

Before you accuse me of being one of the cause of this tragedy in the making, i can assure you I haven't voted since i was 18, a long time ago, and i wont vote until we get a revolutionary to vote for who wants to dismantle the entire system - litetrally.

voting is not doing something for my country, is is encouragement for people who should not be encouraged. i pay taxes still so i am doing my bit, i never got a benefit cheque or hand out. but things are out of control. and don't forget, it takes a whole parliament to go to war. the facts never mattered to this bunch of murderers and tyrants. Since iraq invasion there have been less than 2300 coalition deaths and 600,000 iraqi deaths, lots of which were civilians. If you voted for ANY member of the current two parties, you have blood on your hands. If i do anything for my country it would be a guy fawkes type thing involving gun powder, not voting for corrupt murderers or signing up to fight in their immoral occupations and be decorated a "hero". Bad enough my taxes go there. This is how i am trying to fight the good fight, by posting rants in blogs to change peoples minds about what a "difference" a man like DC could bring, or Obama who i also hate, and by pointing out to people like you that we are a terrible country and should demand real change. They who are complicit in all the above are as guilty as those that signed the paperwork, like DC sat in parliament all these years, wars and deficits right in front of his eyes. Lets see, once he's in, how quickly he bring our boys home, or i suppose i am un-british wanting Karzai's corrupt government to stop being supported by out childrens future taxes (don't forget all our money is gone and it is the credit card being charges up every month now which our kids will have to pay).

What Cameron declared he will do about the EU is either impractical or illegal or both, after Lisbon. He cannot make all the other 26 members come to the (re-) negotiating table so we are legally stuck with Lisbon. All he has left is to threaten to leave the EU, and if that doesn't work, to actually leave. He has declared the Tories won't take us out. So Cameron is a waste of space.